Weir back on takeover trail

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A third acquisition in as many months was in the pipeline at Weir Group yesterday as it gatecrashed a takeover battle for an Australian manufacturer of mining equipment.

The Glasgow-based engineer has made an A$294 million (£200 million) offer for Ludowici, of Brisbane, trumping a A$267 million bid from the Danish company FLSmidth that was tabled last month.

If successful, it would represent something of a hat-trick for Weir. In November it paid $675 million to buy the American well-head specialist Seaboard Holdings; last month it bought Novatech, the Texan pump parts maker, for $176 million.